Innovative Agriculture for Smallholder Resilience (iNASHR) in Egypt

18 December 2024. Closing celebration of the 'Innovative Small-holder Agriculture Resilience' (iNASHR) project

The Innovative Agriculture for Smallholder Resilience (iNASHR) project was implemented over 3 years during which there was the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to instability in farm prices and uncertainties in water availability.

Despite this, 18 teams of Entrepreneurs for Rural Access (ERAs) serving as digital extension service providers were able to reach more than 60,000 people in rural communities. Three specially commissioned “farmer-to-farmer” style training videos were produced, and 60 other relevant Access Agriculture videos were translated into Arabic and shown to farmers. These active service providers, half of whom are women, used a solar-powered smart projector to reach communities where access to power supply, internet connection and mobile phone signal can be challenging.

The teams have noticed that the videos have helped farmers to increase profits by using raised beds, improve soil fertility with legume rotations and find ways of working together to stop the reduction in farm plot sizes. Linking with other Access Agriculture videos on composting, group organisation and alternative feed for small livestock, real improvements in livelihoods have been shown, together with more efficient water use and reduced application of damaging pesticides and chemical fertilisers.

"Farmers are on the front lines witnessing the reality of climate change. It's time to transform our agri-food systems for a sustainable future. Let's not just produce more, but better so we protect the environment for the next generation." Ismahane Elouafi

"iNASHR has served as a dynamic platform for sharing effective farmer-driven experiences and technologies. This project showcases the research and development capacity of ICARDA and CGIAR as institutions. Aly Abousabaa, Regional Director of CWANA at CGIAR and Director General of ICARDA

"The success in reaching smallholder farmers in Egypt was made possible through field demonstrations, farmer-field schools, farmer-to-farmer videos, field days, and additional training sessions. As a result, we directly impacted over 80,000 smallholder farmers, assuming that each of them shared their knowledge with at least 4 other farmers. This means that iNASHR has reached approximately 320,000 farmers in total. A tremendous success indeed!" Bezaiet Dessalegn, Social Sciences Specialist at ICARDA and Project Manager for iNASHR, 

The German Government Advisor, Dagmar Wittine remarked at the project closing workshop, that the enthusiasm of Access Agriculture’s Laura Tabet (Project Manager) and Fady Wagdy Segfrou (ERA Coach), had inspired her during her field visits.

Thanking all the partners, Access Agriculture Executive Director, Josephine Rodgers, concluded, “the challenge now is to expand the use of “farmer-to-farmer” videos to other parts of Egypt and beyond, across North Africa and the Middle East.”